HP Smart....HP App....HP All In...HP This....HP That...

[jimspy]

All I want to do is enroll another printer in Instant Ink.  What a rigamarole!  Right now I'm waiting on a download I was told to get:  the HP App.  Apparently this replaces HP Smart?  Which was a boondoggle itself.  Every time I turn around, HP is "introducing" a new program, setup procedure, or something to slow me down.  It's crazy!

[Meghana_10]

Hello @jimspy, Welcome to the HP Support Community.
 

Thank you for reaching out, and I appreciate you sharing your experience. I understand that setting up another printer for HP Instant Ink can feel more complicated than expected, especially when you are eager to get started quickly.
 

To clarify, the HP App is the newer experience that has been upgraded from HP Smart. While, enrolling an eligible printer in Instant Ink still requires the printer to be connected to your HP account and online during the enrollment process.

Please follow the steps shown in the image to add or enroll another printer to instant ink.

Please check the link for more information - Enrolling in HP Instant Ink | HP® Support

Have a great day!

[jimspy]

Thank  you for your reply.  

I'm still getting confused, because the instructions keep referring to non-existent buttons or confusing pathways.  For instance, going to instantink.com, the front page does not contain a sign-in button.  It contains two buttons, Manage Account and Sign Up Now.  I took a chance on Sign Up Now, and that's where the Sign In button resides.  Pure genius....I signed in (for about the fourth time), then clicked Overview, and then Enroll or Replace Printer.  And for some reason, I got this:

What??? 

OK, so I clicked Login and provided my credentials (for the FIFTH time), and of course was taken.....back to Overview.  So I click Enroll again, and....now I have to download another app.  So I click Get the HP App and....nothing happens.  It just sits there.  So once again I venture a guess and go to the Windows Store.  There I search on HP APP.  I get all kinds of HP stuff:  HP Smart, HP Start, HP System Information, HP AI Companion, HP Display Center, HP Omni Plus, etc.  Plus a whole bunch of crapware designed to LOOK like it comes from HP.   Nothing tagged "HP App."  

And there, I remain stuck. 

Sorry for the length of this, but I wanted to convey just how frustrating this process is.  Please throw me a lifeline. 

[Meghana_10 · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your response @jimspy 

I completely understand the concern here. You should not have to sign in several times or keep guessing which HP application you need just to enroll another printer.
 

The naming is confusing, so let me clarify one important point: HP Smart has been replaced by the HP app for many HP printers on Windows 11. The HP app is the application HP is now directing you to for printer setup, account connection, and printer management. 

Since the Get the HP App button on the Instant Ink page is not doing anything for you, you can bypass that button:
 

1. Open the Microsoft Store on your Windows 11 computer.
2. Search for HP.
3. Look specifically for the application named HP (the HP app), rather than HP Start, HP System Information, HP AI Companion, etc. or download it from the link - HP App – For HP Printers, Laptops, and Tech Accessories | HP® Official Site
4. Install/open the HP app and sign in with the same HP account used for Instant Ink.
5. Click the + (Add printer) option and add the printer you want to enroll. HP confirms that multiple printers can be added to the HP app.
6. Once the printer is added and connected to your HP account, return to Instant Ink > Overview > Enroll or Replace Printer and continue the enrollment.

Hopefully we can get you past this last hurdle without making you navigate through another maze of HP pages.

Have a great day!

[jimspy]

OK, thank you.  Getting the app now.  Hopefully it opens a little faster than HP Smart.  

[jimspy]

OK, first, this commentary is no reflection on you or your performance in providing help.  This strictly relates to the new "app" (and APP stands for A PIECE of POOP.) Not your fault, I'm sure you didn't design it.  

Apparently this HP APP is supposed to replace the HP SMART app.   If that program was quirky and poorly organized, this one is pure garbage from the git go.  For starters, of course I had to sign in twice just to start the download.  When it finally arrived, I opened it and was taken to a flashy animated splash screen.  Then it went right to listing my printers.  I have two of them.  Unfortunately, the window was way too big for my screen resolution, and the second printer was way down below the bottom of my screen.  And there was no scroll bar. I could not use the program to print to my main printer.  

I thought maybe I should try exiting the program and re-starting it.  So I exited the program, and then I....couldn't find it in my Start -> All Programs listing.  It doesn't exist there.  It's not in either of my Programs folders.  Apparently t is a ghost app...or maybe even phishware.  

Furthermore, I understand that the scan function is no longer available in this new  "app", which renders it useless to me, as I use the scanner frequently.  

So I have decided to print the old fashioned way:  Select the desired printer directly from the list of printers.  Come to think of it, why would it do it any other way?  And as for scanning....I still have HP SMART.  If I need to scan, I'll execute that, go make coffee, watch a few videos, and when I come back it might be ready to go.  

Thank you for your help.